Transcript Rise of Islam

Rise of Islam
The Middle East
Themes in Islamic History
• Islam as Religion
• Islam as State &
Empire
• Islam as Civilization
Arabia
Islam After Muhammad
• At death Muhammad in 632 he left no
son to succeed him
• Daughter Fatima
• Split between Shiites and Sunnis
– Great argument over succession
• Shiites – Only descendants of Fatima
or her husband Ali should succeed
Mohammed
– Death of Husain (son of Ali) most
celebrated event in Shiite calendar
• Sunnis – any follower of Islam should
be eligible to lead
– Division political & religious
– Never settled to this day
• Series of Caliphs governed the
Islamic State
Struggle for Succession
Number of conflicting parties sought to
succeed Muhammad
• Companions – belonged to
Muhammad’s tribe or had accepted
mission early
• Legitimists – heir must belong to
family of Muhammad
– Ali paternal cousin, husband of
daughter Fatima & one of first
believers
• Aristocracy of Quraysh –
Umayyads
– Held reigns of power & wealth in
pre-Islamic days
• Companions triumphed with selection
of abu-Bakr
Struggle for Succession
Rashidun - Four “righteous” caliphs (632-661 AD)
– All were close associates and relatives of Muhammad
• Abu Bakr (632-634) Father-in-law of Muhammad and
one of first believers
• Umar (634-644) main military genius who carried Islam
forward from the Arabian peninsula
• Uthman (644-656) - empire fell into a civil war called the
Fitna
– In 656 Uthman is assassinated by followers of Ali
• Ali (656-661) Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin
– Many refused to accept Ali as a leader
– Killed by assassin
Umayyad dynasty claims the caliphate – Damascus
capital
Abbasid dynasty – 754 – seizes caliphate
– al Mansur (754-775) builds new capital at Baghdad
Conquest & Expansion
Expansion of Islamic empire
against Byzantine & Sassanid
(Persian) empires
Abu-Bakr –Orders jihad (holy
struggle) against the "infidel"
Christian or Byzantine Empire north
of Arabia
• Damascus becomes capital
Umar
• 637 – Defeated great Persian
Sassanid army
• 639 – Conquers Alexandria – base
of Byzantine navy
• 643 – Arabs to border of India
Tariq ibn Zaid crossed from North
Africa (Morocco) into Spain in 711
Expansion stopped in France in 732 –
Charles Martel (Battle of Tours)
The Spread of Islam
Medieval Baghdad
Medieval Baghdad
762 - Abbasid dynasty moved the capital of Islamic
empire to the newly-founded city of Baghdad
• Caliph Al-Mansur founded
• Banks of the Tigris River
• Known as the “Round City”
• Foreign influences – Persian, Syrian & Hellenistic
Baghdad capital of "Golden Age" of Islamic
civilization
• Magnificent architectural achievement
• Muslim scholars - important contributions in the
sciences, humanities, medicine, mathematics,
astronomy, chemistry, and literature
• Became city of museums, hospitals, libraries
• World's richest & most intellectual city of the time
• Believed to be largest city in the world from 775 to
935 - possibly over 1,000,000
Baghdad was destroyed by the Mongols in 1258
• Ended era of the Abbasids
Medieval Baghdad
Bayt al-Hikmah (the House of Wisdom)
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World famous center of learning
Attracted scholars from all over the world
Library, academy and translation bureau
Translate Greek works of Aristotle, Plato,
Galen, Hippocrates, Euclid, and Pythagoras
• Translate Persian, Sanskrit, Syriac into Arabic
• Al-Khawarizmi, the "father" of algebra
Merchants played a major role in the city
• From Persia, China, India, Africa & Europe
• Sinbad the Sailor recounts actual voyages
made by Muslim merchants
Caliphal palace known as the Golden Gate or
the Green Dome
• Dome of audience chamber rose to 130 feet
Harun al-Rashid
Abbasid caliph (r.786-809)
Baghdad a city of immense wealth and
international significance under al-Rashid
• Tribute paid by many rulers to the caliph
• Used on architecture, arts & luxurious life at
court
Great patron of arts & sciences
• Encouragement of learning, art, poetry, music
• A scholar and poet himself
• Invited many scholars to the kingdom
• Founded first Muslim hospital
Built Green Dome palace in Baghdad
Fabulous court inspired the book One Thousand
and One Nights
• Displays of extravagant wealth
• Entertainers flocked to his court: poets, wits,
musicians, singers, and dancers
Diplomatic relations with Charlemagne
Islamic Spain
• Influence on Medieval European
civilization
• Ummayyad Caliph
• In Spain from 711 to 1492
Cordoba
• Center of culture that rivaled
Baghdad
• Libraries, palaces, street
lights, running water
• Cultural center of Medieval
Europe
• Mosque – early vaulting like
later Gothic cathedrals
Creation of Islamic Civilization
• Islamic civilization developed slowly
– Centuries before majority of people in Syria,
Mesopotamia, and Persia accepted Islam
– People generally converted from self interest
– Escape taxes & seek identification with ruling
class
• Combination of cultural influences
• Arabs assimilated, adapted & reproduced the
intellectual & cultural heritage of those they
conquered
• Arabs adopted best art, architecture, philosophy,
medicine, science, literature, and government
mainly from Hellenized Aramaic & Persian
civilizations
• Arab contribution was mainly in language and
religion
• Final culmination of Semitic civilization which
started in the Fertile Crescent developed by
Assyro-Babylonians, Phoenicians, Aramaeans
and Hebrews
Islamic Unity
• Arabic became language of business,
government & literature
• Uniform enforcement of law contributed to growth
of united culture
• Vast trade network extended from India to the
Mediterranean
Rich Cultural Achievements
• Scholarship
– Produced notable scientists,
astronomers, mathematicians,
doctors and philosophers
– Importance of reading the Qur'an
produced a comparatively high
level of literacy in the general
populace
• Heirs to Hellenistic Learning
– Maintained Classical learning
– Translation of Greek texts Aristotle
• Medicine
• Architecture
– Mosques, Palaces & Minarets
• Art
– Geometric patterns, calligraphy,
metal work
Science & Medicine
Muslim scientists
• Saw no contradiction between religion and
laws governing natural world
• Scientific method born
• Utilized Classical Greek medical texts
• Alchemy – beginnings of chemistry
Muslim medicine
• Advanced techniques & ideas
• Theory that disease born through air
born organisms
• Study of anatomy
• Vascular & cancer surgery
• Study of light, lenses & physiology of
eye – led to camera
• Use of anesthetics
• Pharmacies
• Hospitals – separate disease in
different wards
Pioneers of Medicine
Ibn Sina (980 – 1037) – Known as Avicenna
• Contributions in philosophy, music,
mathematics, geography & literature
• Utilized experimentation & observation
• wrote Canon of Medicine –
encyclopedia of medicine
• Study of infectious disease
• Main medical text for 6 centuries
• Printed extensively throughout the West
Mathematics
• Introduced “Arabic” numerals – originally
from India
• Replaced Roman numerals
• Included the zero – made for complex
calculations
• Perfected use of decimals and fractions
• Invented Algebra
One Thousand and One Nights
Classic of world literature
Stories were created over many centuries,
by many people and in many styles
Originally Arabian, Persian, & Indian folk
tales
• Collected during time of al-Rashid
Best known stories:
• Ali Baba, Sinbad the Sailor, and Aladdin
• al-Rashid’s court frequent setting
Frame story:
• Efforts of Scheherezade to keep her
husband, King Shahryar from killing her
by entertaining him with a tale a night for
1,001 nights
• Always a cliff hanger
British translator – Richard Burton
Architecture